am I completely insane for thinking Earth already passed through the "Galactic Center" between 99-03? Is there actual astronomical data to support the earth being "in alignment" with the galactic center in 2012? I know there's no shortage of astrological data, and frustratingly few of my friends know the difference.

any help appreciated -- thanks.

There is no way the Earth has passed, is passing, or will ever pass through the galactic center. On the other hand, the solar system does pass through the "central plane" of the galaxy. The sun bobs "up" and "down" as it orbits the galaxy, but slowly. I don't know the period offhand.

Look for threads started by rudeyd. There are lots of answers there that he's ignoring.

Fred

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^^Thank you sir, and thanks for pointing out the rather embarrasing phrasing I used as well.

NO, WE'RE PASSING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE SUPERMASSIVE BLACKHOLE ANY SECOND NOW

If you look through those rudeyd threads, the period of the z-axis bobbing up and down is about 30ish million years, and we're now barely on the rising side of that cycle, about 70LY above the galactic plane, and won't cross again for close to 30 million years.

This "plane crossing" stuff as best I can gather is about an alignment on the celestial sphere, with the sun lining up with the galactic plane during the winter solstice. But according to Grant's data, that event has indeed already happened around 2000, and the solstice is now moving away.......

Anyway, whatever is it is, doomsday is supposed to happend at 11:11AM, Dec 21st, 2012 UTC, the time of the winter solstice. Gravitational waves are going to do it, shaking the sun and earth like a bowl full of jelly causing massive coronal mass ejections which will scortch the earth, and then cause the earth's crust to slide over the mantle, big pole shift nonsense.


-Richard

In case anyone else has similar questions, here's a link to the relevant thread:

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FYI, this thread will be one of the ATM threads still open on 7 March ... though only for a week or so ...

Will the sun ever, EVER, reach a point closer to the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, or will it have "died" by then? In other words, is the sun's orbit elliptical, like a comet's (a bit exagerated), or is it more of a circle

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More like a circle, if this animation is to be believed, from Space.com: The Crazy Cosmos: Stars Near Sun are Wild & Wayward.

Some of the Suns current neighbors appear to be on much more elliptical paths.

But, who knows about the future? All it takes is a close-encounter perturbation some time in the remaining dozens of trips around the Galactic Center, for the Sun's circular path to become more elliptical.

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In a few billion years, it's expected that the Andromeda galaxy will collide with ours, causing some heavy disruption. That could send the solar system closer to the black hole, or further away. Here's a small article on the collision:

http://haydenplanetarium.org/resourc...=G0601andmilwy

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What 'center' are you talking about?

I think he meant the plane.

Are you guys talking about the earth passing threw the milky way's center?
i think i'm mis-understanding

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No through the plane of the disk. No way of us going to Sag'

Some think Earth's passage through the galactic plane might disturb the oort cloud in some way and spark bombardments--no need for a Nemesis companion then. Or something to that effect.